Hi! Yesterday I got pulled over driving my 82 CE. The cops accused me of stealing the car, searched me, kept me there, and finally after over an hour let me go. It really upsets me that the cops gave me a hard time just for seeing a 17 year old driving an 82 CE. Have any of you other teens been harassed by the cops while driving your vette. Thanks alot!

 

Why did they detain you ? did you have your paper work with you?

 

No paper work, they just kept me there to give me a hard time I'm sure. The cop called for backup and everything. I told the cop it was my car but he just said, "No, kids don't drive cars like this." . After they realized they couldn't get me for anything the officer let me go and told me, "You should'nt be driving this car." I filed a complaint with the officer, but I'm sure nothing will happen. There were no witnesses, so it would be my word against his. Its a pretty pathetic situation.

Oops, sorry, misread your reply. Yes, I did have my insurance and registration and license in hand. I thought you meant "did the cop give me any paper work. "


[Modified by LeoR, 11:37 PM 3/9/2002]

 

1. were you doin anything at all illegal? (speeding, exp'd plate....etc.)
2. did you get his bagde number?
3. if not do you have any other identifying info on him?


if the answer to 1 is no and either 2 or 3 is yes, i would take it to court and sue the butt off of the (city, county, state, which ever he works for) because, if he kept you that long there is some kind of record of it, whether it be by cameras in his car, or just the radio messages to the HQ, there is some record of what he did.......so it probably wouldnt be too hard to get his butt fired and some out of it........thats what i would do


[Modified by ZiVvmO, 12:27 AM 3/10/2002]

 

But if he raises some stink dont you think they would be gunning for him?

 

Assuming you were not doing anything illegal I dont think you should let something like this slde. Someone with an attitude like that does not need to be in law enfocrcement. If it was me i would talk to a lawyer and see what he says. At the very least go down to the police department and file a complaint. Im 20 and i have never had a problem with cops while driving my '69 vert with sidepipes and loud music most of the time.

 

well leo...welcome to the wonderful world of corvette ownership as a teen. I get that mess all the time. I've been accused of everything from stealing it(like you), to selling drugs. I've been pulled over numorous times in my vetter just because they assume Im to yongue. Everytime I come across a DUI check, I always have to pull over and do all the stuff, even if its very obvious I havn't had anything to drink(not on my breath, eyes not dialated, etc).

Get used to it...and jealous cop will find a way to pull you over...

By the way, out of all the times I've gotten pulled in the vette, they've never had anything on me. The only ticket I've ever gotten wasn't even in the vette, and it was because I was speeding...They pull me in the vette and try to find a reason they pulled me, stupid stuff like "you didn't turn your turn signal on when you murged"...when they where coming toward me... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: And cops want respect.... :lol:

Daniel

EDIT: I like when they know they don't have anything on me, but still say "I'll let you off with a warning this time"... :cheers:


[Modified by daniel77350, 7:20 AM 3/10/2002]

 

:mad DAMN PIGS, Im Gonna BE Drivin A 78 Pace Car when im only 16 . . I Hope they dont do something like that to me . . but since i read this post ill be sure to get his badge number n stuff if he holds me for that long :cool:

 

I used to get it all the time when I was younger, But after your 20 or so they don't bother any more.
They call it " suspicious person" and complaints dont mean anything if your under 21.

 

Once I had a cop keep me pulled over for 30min while he ran my plates to see if it was stolen. When he found out it wasn't he pretended like he knew so much about corvettes...needless to say he didn't.

 

Welcome to the compound world of being young and corvette ownership! That same kind of stuff used to happen to me 30 years ago. My record was seven cruisers for just being coming home from a movie at 11:30 at night. They even called my mother on the phone to make sure I had permission to have the car out (it was registered in her name for insurance reasons). Two of the cruisers that joined in knew me and tried to tell the first officer I was okay but it was his stop. I always found the problem with either the youngest or the ones rady for retirement. I guess some things never change.....

 

Good attitude. keep that one and you will surely have a problem with the police. I guarentee it :yesnod:
there could be more tho the story here. Leo could have matched a description of someone who just stole the same type of car, someone who was involved in an assault, someone who robbed a store, etc. Can't really pass judgement without know the whole story. I'm not saying that Leo is not wrong in filing a complaint, I just feel that there may be more that meets the eye here.

 

I know how you feel. Many moons ago when I was 18 I had a 69 Dodge Dart with a pretty healthy 340 in it. Cop seen twin hood scoops and aluminum rims with wide tires and pulled me over for an illegal exhaust. When I told him to look underneath the car and he saw full factory exhaust front to back he changed his story. Told me not to be jammin through the gears at 3 in the morning. Funny thing is it was only 8:00 and I was sitting at a red light. So I just chalked it up to him being a dick and laughed as I drove away. Not all cops are like this though because I`ve had some let me go. And now that I`m 41 I can drive my vette with chambered exhaust and they don`t even look twice. With all the ricers around now I think they appreciate the sound of a rumbling V-8. :lol:

 

Hate to see that some things never change in El Paso. Same thing happened to me in 1970, when I was 16 there. I was driving a 62 that my parents bought but I was making the payments. Had me stopped on Transmountain Rd. Held me there for about 45 minutes. Tried to get him to follow me to work just up the street. That was where my dad was. No doing.. Gave me some bull about there was a warrent for my arrest. Got the badge number and gave it to my dad.
I do know he called someone, but dont really know if anything was done about it..

 

Yup, that's the reality of it. Fact is, though, that cops are just playing the odds treating you like that--it's like picking up a homeless guy for walking through the wrong neighborhood--if you got a teenager in a car that's too both sporty and too expensive for most teenagers, the odds go way up something's not kosher. It's not necessarily right, but it's high-percentage.

Not to mention cops do tend to have an attitude about teenagers because far too many teenagers have that "PIGS" sort of attitude expressed above.

JB

 

Four yrs. ago the regulator went out at 2 in the am. Here I am going down the E-Way at 80-85 mph with just parking lights on. When another car came by, heading the other way, I turned the lights on to see. A County Sheriffe pulled me over and asked if I was having problems. Explained what happened, he checked in with my licesne and such and volunteered to follow me home. About 5 more miles. Did 80-85 with a police escort. He was about retirement age and very understanding. If you want to make a Cop happy, before he approaches your car, put your hands on the wheel at the 10 and two o'clock position.

 

I have a story that is pretty close. During the early 80's, me and another guy were driving around in my '72 chevelle convertible with the top down. It was during the winter and it was snowing. It was during my lunch break, so I was NOT under the influence of anything too strong. We were just having fun. This was in massachusetts and while driving through the hanover mall parking lot we were pulled over. The guy came up and said something was leaking out of my trunk and wanted me to open it. Just as he finished saying that we felt a pretty good thump. Looking behind us, the moron left his car in gear and while he was standing there, his cruiser ran into the back of me. He told me that I had better leave and walked back to his car and left. My car was a piece of crap so I wasn't worried about damage but we thought about claiming whiplash. I told my parents about it that night and my mother wanted to call and file a complaint.

Well, to end this story, it wasn't even a real cop. It was a mall security guy.

 

well im 17 and i really never had a bad incident with the cops. whenever im streetracing and the cops bust up the loitering they always wave at me in my vette, but they usually give all the rice rockets a hard time. You have to understand cops get yelled at for not catching car snatchers, and they get yelled at for questioning a suspicious car, they dont win. But i do agree they are dicks in the process.

 

im 16 but look 18, my 79 needs a paint job desperately but they still follow me for a mile or two or until i come up on the next cop occasionally. never been pulled over or anything, they either glare at me or wave at me, whatever.

 

I used to get hassled by a cop around town when i was younger. He would hassle me constantly "Officer Steve Mcarthy". I went to complain at the police station when he rumaged through my dads tools in the backseat of my dads car i was driving which happened to be a cheVette and decided to pic out the crowbar out as a "break in tool". He took it and told me to be on my way. Instead i went right to the police station to file a complaint where he met me. They tried to talk me out of filing a complaint and i said no. I was promptly arrested on a made up charge, that was quickly dropped a few days later. I never got to file that complaint and a lawyer said I could do nothing. It Sucks :mad. Before that happened along with Waco and rubyridge I used to respect the Badge and even considered joining the FBI . OH and the kicker was in the local paper that reports crimes i was listed and the story was nothing liked what really happened. The paper said there was a suspicious car and when the police said stop the suspect fled and was not caught, the suspect being me who was at the police station trying to file a complaint. The paper said to me they just print what the cops tell them, friggin puppets! :chevy